iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) is in early talks about a possible sale to Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI), Bloomberg reported on April 24, citing people familiar with the matter. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the talks the same day, also citing people familiar, with both outlets adding that Irving Azoff and Apollo Global Management are advising. The talks are preliminary and may not produce a deal.
An iHeartMedia spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter the company does not comment on rumors or speculation. SiriusXM declined to comment, and Apollo did not respond. Variety reported that its sources “stressed that…Azoff is not in the process of acquiring either or both companies, but is advising, along with Apollo,” a clarification that pushes back on a separate framing of Azoff as a potential buyer.
The financial backdrop sits in iHeart’s March 2 8-K filing. The company carried $5.05 billion in total debt and $4.54 billion in net debt at year-end 2025 against $3.86 billion in full-year revenue and a $471.9 million net loss; 2026 guidance sets net leverage at the mid-5s. iHeart emerged from a 2018 Chapter 11 in May 2019 with debt cut from roughly $16.1 billion to $5.75 billion, per Variety, and ran a $4.8 billion debt exchange in December 2024 that pushed maturities out three years. SiriusXM completed its split-off from Liberty Media on September 9, 2024, leaving it for the first time as an independent public company with no majority stockholder — and a clean acquirer.
The talks land into a moment of audio-ad-side consolidation around adjacent inventory. SiriusXM Media became the exclusive U.S. audio-advertising representative for YouTube on April 22, two days before Bloomberg’s report, with implementation due in fall 2026 via AdsWizz. Spotify rolled out new ad formats on March 31. A combined iHeart-SiriusXM ad-sales organization would put the two largest U.S. audio sellers, plus YouTube’s U.S. audio inventory, behind one buy-side counter — the scale brand teams compare to single-vendor CTV reach when allocating 2026-27 upfront budgets.
The next on-the-record opportunity is SiriusXM’s Q1 2026 earnings call on April 30, four days from now.
